salt & light

Hi

Really liked this post from Thom Shuman, as I’ve been reflecting on salt and light with this Sunday’s Matthew 5:13-20 reading in mind. I share it with you.
Cheers,
David
[ http://www.occasionalsightings.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/salt-and-light.html%5D

I’ve been thinking about salt and light the last couple of days.

Of course, it is mainly the salt that litters the sidewalks and streets, gets stuck in the crevices of my boots and in Maya’s paws.
There has been a lot of salt trodden over by us humans during this long and lingering winter. There is also that salt that seems to be in increasing demand, as (especially small) communities look in their ‘cupboards’ and wonder if they have enough to get them through the next couple of storms that seem to be lining up and heading our way over the next 5-6 days.

How can we be the sort of salt to people whose worries seem almost as high as some of the piles at the end of driveways, left there by the snowplows as they clear our streets? How can we help melt those hearts that have been frozen by fears of the unknown person, the week to come, the job that teeters on redundancy, the visit to the oncologist next month, the call that comes in the middle of the night about the aging parent?

Folks who are still sitting in the darkness because of the ice that took down power lines probably would welcome that light that is hidden under a basket! People who shiver in their houses waiting for the tech to show up to repair their furnace and get it warming the house again by relighting the pilot light know how important that little spark can be. And those who sit in
darkened cars, stuck in a ditch or the ice by the side of the road, look long and hard for that first flicker of the flashlight which means that help is on the way.

How can we be light to those whose lives seem to have lost all energy, all power? How can we bring warmth to those who feel frozen out by a culture that overlooks them, ridicules them, blames them? How willing are we to go into the cold shadowsof poverty, homelessness, and hunger to bring food, housing, clothing, hope, and grace to those we are told ‘bring it on themselves’?

It is so easy to dismiss the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount as having no relevance in today’s twittering world.
But it seems clear that salt and light still hold a lot of meaning for folks in 2014.

© 2014 Thom M. Shuman

Thom

Thom M. Shuman
Interim Pastor
Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, OH USA
Associate Member, Iona Community